Journal of Language Relationship
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Assessing the Chitimacha-Totozoquean Hypothesis1
ASSESSING THE CHITIMACHA-TOTOZOQUEAN HYPOTHESIS1 DANIEL W. HIEBER UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA 1. Introduction2 Scholars have attempted to genetically classify the Chitimacha language of Louisiana ever since the first vocabulary of the language was collected by Martin Duralde in 1802. Since then, there have been numerous attempts to relate Chitimacha to other isolates of the region (Swanton 1919; Swadesh 1946a; Gursky 1969), Muskogean as part of a broader Proto-Gulf hypothesis (Haas 1951; Haas 1952), and even languages as far afield as Yuki in California (Munro 1994). The most recent attempt at classification, however, looks in a new direction, and links Chitimacha with the recently-advanced Totozoquean language family of Mesoamerica (Brown, Wichmann & Beck 2014; Brown et al. 2011), providing 90 cognate sets and a number of 1 [Acknowledgements] 2 Abbreviations used in this paper are as follows: * reconstructed form ** hypothetical form intr. intransitive post. postposition tr. transitive AZR adjectivizer CAUS causative NZR nominalizer PLACT pluractional TRZR transitivizer VZR verbalizer morphological parallels as evidence. Now, recent internal reconstructions in Chitimacha made available in Hieber (2013), as well as a growing understanding of Chitimacha grammar (e.g. Hieber forthcoming), make it possible to assess the Chitimacha- Totozoquean hypothesis in light of more robust data. This paper shows that a more detailed understanding of Chitimacha grammar and lexicon casts doubt on the possibility of a genetic connection between Chitimacha and Mesoamerica. Systematic sound correspondences prove to be unattainable for the data provided in Brown, Wichmann & Beck (2014). However, groups of correspondences do appear in the data, suggestive of diffusion through contact rather than genetic inheritance. -
Final Dissdec1-09
UC Berkeley Dissertations, Department of Linguistics Title The Phonology and Morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1mc954tq Author McFarland, Teresa Publication Date 2009 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac by Teresa Ann McFarland A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Linguistics in the Graduate Division of the UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Committee in charge: Professor Sharon Inkelas (Chair) Professor Andrew Garrett Professor Leanne Hinton Professor Johanna Nichols Fall 2009 The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac © 2009 by Teresa Ann McFarland Abstract The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac by Teresa Ann McFarland Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics University of California, Berkeley Professor Sharon Inkelas, Chair This dissertation constitutes a descriptive grammar of the phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac that highlights typologically unusual phenomena of theoretical interest. Filomeno Mata (FM) Totonac is a member of the Totonac-Tepehua family (eastern Mexico), spoken in and around the municipality whose name it borrows in the state of Veracruz. It is a polysynthetic, highly agglutinating, head-marking variety with VSO word order and complex verbal morphology that has not previously been described by linguists. This grammar is based on fieldwork conducted by the author -
Is Phonological Consonant Epenthesis Possible? a Series of Artificial Grammar Learning Experiments
Is Phonological Consonant Epenthesis Possible? A Series of Artificial Grammar Learning Experiments Rebecca L. Morley Abstract Consonant epenthesis is typically assumed to be part of the basic repertoire of phonological gram- mars. This implies that there exists some set of linguistic data that entails epenthesis as the best analy- sis. However, a series of artificial grammar learning experiments found no evidence that learners ever selected an epenthesis analysis. Instead, phonetic and morphological biases were revealed, along with individual variation in how learners generalized and regularized their input. These results, in combi- nation with previous work, suggest that synchronic consonant epenthesis may only emerge very rarely, from a gradual accumulation of changes over time. It is argued that the theoretical status of epenthesis must be reconsidered in light of these results, and that investigation of the sufficient learning conditions, and the diachronic developments necessary to produce those conditions, are of central importance to synchronic theory generally. 1 Introduction Epenthesis is defined as insertion of a segment that has no correspondent in the relevant lexical, or un- derlying, form. There are various types of epenthesis that can be defined in terms of either the insertion environment, the features of the epenthesized segment, or both. The focus of this paper is on consonant epenthesis and, more specifically, default consonant epenthesis that results in markedness reduction (e.g. Prince and Smolensky (1993/2004)). Consonant -
A Typology of Consonant Agreement As Correspondence
A TYPOLOGY OF CONSONANT AGREEMENT AS CORRESPONDENCE SHARON ROSE RACHEL WALKER University of California, San Diego University of Southern California This article presents a typology of consonant harmony or LONG DISTANCE CONSONANT AGREEMENT that is analyzed as arisingthroughcorrespondence relations between consonants rather than feature spreading. The model covers a range of agreement patterns (nasal, laryngeal, liquid, coronal, dorsal) and offers several advantages. Similarity of agreeing consonants is central to the typology and is incorporated directly into the constraints drivingcorrespondence. Agreementby correspon- dence without feature spreadingcaptures the neutrality of interveningsegments,which neither block nor undergo. Case studies of laryngeal agreement and nasal agreement are presented, demon- stratingthe model’s capacity to capture varyingdegreesof similarity crosslinguistically.* 1. INTRODUCTION. The action at a distance that is characteristic of CONSONANT HAR- MONIES stands as a pivotal problem to be addressed by phonological theory. Consider the nasal alternations in the Bantu language, Kikongo (Meinhof 1932, Dereau 1955, Webb 1965, Ao 1991, Odden 1994, Piggott 1996). In this language, the voiced stop in the suffix [-idi] in la is realized as [ini] in 1b when preceded by a nasal consonant at any distance in the stem constituent, consistingof root and suffixes. (1) a. m-[bud-idi]stem ‘I hit’ b. tu-[kun-ini]stem ‘we planted’ n-[suk-idi]stem ‘I washed’ tu-[nik-ini]stem ‘we ground’ In addition to the alternation in 1, there are no Kikongo roots containing a nasal followed by a voiced stop, confirmingthat nasal harmony or AGREEMENT, as we term it, also holds at the root level as a MORPHEME STRUCTURE CONSTRAINT (MSC). -
Études Finno-Ougriennes, 46 | 2014 the Khanty Mother of God and the Finnish Woman with Deep Blue Eyes 2
Études finno-ougriennes 46 | 2014 Littératures & varia The Khanty Mother of God and the Finnish woman with deep blue eyes La mère de Dieu khantye et la Finnoise aux yeux bleus Handi Jumalaema ja tema süvameresilmadega soome õde: „Märgitud“ (1980) ja „Jumalaema verisel lumel“ (2002) Elle-Mari Talivee Electronic version URL: https://journals.openedition.org/efo/3298 DOI: 10.4000/efo.3298 ISSN: 2275-1947 Publisher INALCO Printed version Date of publication: 1 January 2014 ISBN: 978-2-343-05394-3 ISSN: 0071-2051 Electronic reference Elle-Mari Talivee, “The Khanty Mother of God and the Finnish woman with deep blue eyes”, Études finno-ougriennes [Online], 46 | 2014, Online since 09 October 2015, connection on 08 July 2021. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/efo/3298 ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/efo.3298 This text was automatically generated on 8 July 2021. Études finno-ougriennes est mis à disposition selon les termes de la Licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d’Utilisation Commerciale 4.0 International. The Khanty Mother of God and the Finnish woman with deep blue eyes 1 The Khanty Mother of God and the Finnish woman with deep blue eyes La mère de Dieu khantye et la Finnoise aux yeux bleus Handi Jumalaema ja tema süvameresilmadega soome õde: „Märgitud“ (1980) ja „Jumalaema verisel lumel“ (2002) Elle-Mari Talivee 1 In the following article, similarities between two novels, one by an Estonian and the other by a Khanty writer, are discussed while comparing possible resemblances based on the Finno-Ugric way of thinking. Introduction 2 One of the writers is Eremei Aipin, a well-known Khanty writer (born in 1948 in Varyogan near the Agan River), whose works have been translated into several languages. -
JOURNAL of ETHNOLOGY and FOLKLORISTICS Editor-In-Chief Ergo‑Hart Västrik Guest Editor Pirjo Virtanen, Eleonora A
Volume 11 2017 Number 1 JEFJOURNAL OF ETHNOLOGY AND FOLKLORISTICS Editor-in-Chief Ergo-Hart Västrik Guest Editor Pirjo Virtanen, Eleonora A. Lundell, Marja-Liisa Honkasalo Editors Risto Järv, Indrek Jääts, Art Leete, Pille Runnel, Taive Särg, Ülo Valk Language Editor Daniel Edward Allen Managing Editor Helen Kästik Advisory Board Pertti J. Anttonen, Alexandra Arkhipova, Camilla Asplund Ingemark, Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Dace Bula, Tatiana Bulgakova, Anne-Victoire Charrin, Carlo A. Cubero, Silke Göttsch, Lauri Harvilahti, Mihály Hoppál, Aivar Jürgenson, Patrick Laviolette, Bo Lönnqvist, Margaret Mackay, Irena Regina Merkienė, Stefano Montes, Kjell Ole Kjærland Olsen, Alexander Panchenko, Éva Pócs, Peter P. Schweitzer, Victor Semenov, Laura Siragusa, Timothy R. Tangherlini, Peeter Torop, Žarka Vujić, Elle Vunder, Sheila Watson, Ulrika Wolf-Knuts Editorial Address Estonian National Museum Muuseumi tee 2 60532 Tartu, Estonia Phone: + 372 735 0405 E-mail: [email protected] Online Distributor De Gruyter Open Homepage http://www.jef.ee http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/jef Design Roosmarii Kurvits Layout Tuuli Kaalep Printing Bookmill, Tartu, Estonia Indexing Anthropological Index Online, DOAJ, ERIH Plus, MLA Directory of Periodicals (EBSCO), MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO), Open Folklore Project This issue is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (projects IUT2-43, IUT22-4 and PUT590) and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies, CEES). JOURNAL OF ETHNOLOGY AND FOLKLORISTICS ISSN 1736-6518 (print) ISSN 2228-0987 (online) The Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics is the joint publication of the Estonian Literary Museum, the Estonian National Museum and the University of Tartu. -
The Vitality and Revitalisation Attempts of the Mansi Language in Khanty-Mansiysk
Uralic Studies PhD Programme Graduate School in Linguistics University of Szeged The vitality and revitalisation attempts of the Mansi language in Khanty-Mansiysk PhD Dissertation Csilla Horváth Supervisors: Anna Fenyvesi, PhD Katalin Sipőcz, PhD Szeged 2020 1 1. Research questions The Mansi language is an endangered indigenous minority language spoken in Western Siberia. Linguistically it belongs to the family of Uralic languages, socially it belongs to the group of the so-called numerically small indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation. The beginnings of bilingualism (and probable multilingualism) of the Mansi society are no doubt located in the distant past, and it would be problematic to determine the starting point of language shift, but it is certain that researchers (e.g. Munkácsi 1889a: 208, 222-224) have been complaining about the difficulty of finding native speakers due to assimilation and rapid language shift for more than a hundred years. Thus, it appears to be likely that at least a part of Mansi society became a subject of language endangerment already during the 19th century, and the process has continued ever since. The Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Khanty- Mansiysk as its administrative and cultural centre often use the name Yugra, which refers to the indigenous Ob-Ugric peoples, as well as to ornaments and festivals originating from Ob-Ugric traditions, thus creating the district’s and the city’s own identity within Russia (Nagy 2016: 10-11). In order to “authentically” represent the Ob-Ugric cultural elements, the majority society needs Ob-Ugrians, including Mansis, who are considered “authentic”, but defining the authentic Ob-Ugric identity is not unproblematic in urbanised conditions. -
Lenition in Persian Phonological System Aliye Kambuziya1* Mahmoud Mobaraki2 1
Lenition in Persian Phonological System Aliye Kambuziya1* Mahmoud Mobaraki2 1. Associate Professor, Linguistics Department, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran 2. Ph.D. Student, Linguistics Department, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran * E-mail of the corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract This study deals with lenition processes according to the theoretical framework of generative phonology to answer the cited questions: How phonological processes are applied in Persian phonological system as lenition? In other words, how do the data support the application of lenition processes in Persian? In which contexts do lenition processes apply in Persian? Synthetic process typology of phonological processes is investigated according to the phonological pattern of Persian; finally the most frequent lenition processes are selected. To see how these processes are applied in Persian as lenition, Standard Persian and six dialects out of twenty five dialects which show these processes are selected. The data are gathered in field study. Then, each of the lenition processes is probed on the Persian varieties to find the alternatives and underlying forms which are important to decide how the lenition processes are applied; and to find the positions in which lenition processes take place. The collected data support the lenition processes in Persian. The data show that the lenition processes tend to occur in postvocalic, intervocalic and final positions; and the final position has the highest frequency for lenition processes to occur. This support Kenstowichz‟s idea that mentions word final is the typical position for lenition. Keywords: lenition processes, generative phonology, synthetic process typology, Persian phonological system 1.Introduction 1.1The Current Approaches to Lenition In traditional approach, the typology of phonological processes is dualistic. -
Contemporary Situation of Khanty Language
44 CAES Vol. 5, № 1 (March 2019) Contemporary situation of Khanty language Marija Launonen University of Helsinki; Helsinki, Finland; e-mail: [email protected] Abstract Khanty language faces numerous problems and tasks relating to dialect diversity, a small number of speakers, tensions between dialects, administrative divisions, education possibilities, urbanization and use of language in the contemporary world. A way that can be proposed to overcome these problems is to follow a Saami example in a decentralized approach to dialects, implementing online long-distance learning platforms. Several Khanty dialects are vigorously used among all age groups and have undisrupted intergenerational transmission, and the question in these cases, therefore, is about strengthening the language positions, not about reviving or revitalization. But there are few other dialects, where questions of reviving and revitalization are urgent questions. Keywords: Khanty language; language revitalization; Surgut idiom of Khanty language Introduction Khanty language, along with Mansi and Hungarian, belongs to Ugric branch of Uralic family. Khanty is spoken by an indigenous community, the Khanty people, who live in North-Western Siberia. According to 2010 census, in Russia 30943 people proclaimed themselves to be Khanty. 19068 of them live in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, 9489 live in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and 718 live in Tomsk Oblast. 9584 people have claimed to have good proficiency in Khanty language, and it is thought that almost all of them also have Khanty ethnic self-identity (Csepregi 2017). Khanty is usually divided into two dialect groups: Western and Eastern. The Western group is often divided further into Southern and Northern dialect groups. -
Copyright by Susan Smythe Kung 2007
Copyright by Susan Smythe Kung 2007 The Dissertation Committee for Susan Smythe Kung Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: A Descriptive Grammar of Huehuetla Tepehua Committee: Nora C. England, Supervisor Carlota S. Smith Megan Crowhurst Anthony C. Woodbury Paulette Levy James K. Watters A Descriptive Grammar of Huehuetla Tepehua by Susan Smythe Kung, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2007 Dedication For the Tepehua people of Huehuetla, Hidalgo, Mexico, and especially for Nicolás. If it were not for their friendship and help, I never would have begun this dissertation. If it were not for their encouragement of me, as well as their commitment to my project, I never would have finished it. Acknowledgements My first and largest debt of gratitude goes to all of the speakers of Huehuetla Tepehua who contributed in some way to this grammar. Without them, this volume would not exist. I want to thank the Vigueras family, in particular, for taking me into their home and making me a part of their family: don Nicolás, his wife doña Fidela, their children Nico, Tonio, Mari, Carmelo, Martín, Lupe, and Laurencio, and their daughter-in-law Isela. Not only do I have a home here in the U.S., but I also have a home in Huehuetla with them. There was also the extended family, who lived in the same courtyard area and who also took me in and gave me free access to their homes and their lives: don Nicolás’ mother doña Angela, his two brothers don Laurencio and don Miguel, their wives doña Fidela and doña Juana, and all of their children. -
Segmental Phonology Darin Howe University of Calgary
SEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY DARIN HOWE HOWED UCALGARY.CA UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY DARIN HOWE, 2003 ii Table of contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................................................IV INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET CHART.................................................................................................. V 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................................1 2. INTRASEGMENTAL PHONOLOGY ..................................................................................................................4 2.1. PHONEME INVENTORIES AND FEATURES.......................................................................................................... 4 2.2. ARTICULATOR-FREE FEATURES .....................................................................................................................12 2.2.1. Major class features .................................................................................................................................................12 2.2.1.1. [±consonantal]...........................................................................................................................................12 2.2.1.2. [±sonorant].................................................................................................................................................22 2.2.2. Other articulator-free features..............................................................................................................................27 -
Relative Clauses in Upper Necaxa Totonac: Local, Comparative, and Diachronic Perspectives1
Relative clauses in Upper Necaxa Totonac: Local, comparative, and diachronic perspectives1 David Beck University of Alberta Relativization strategies in the Totonacan family are largely undescribed, but detailed examination of one of the languages in the group, Upper Necaxa Totonac, reveals the presence of both externally- and internally-headed relative constructions. Also of note is the presence of relativizers that mark the animacy (human/non-human) of the head of the relative construction. This paper will show that, while phylogenetic evidence clearly demonstrates the relativizers to be descended diachronically from interrogative pronouns, they are best treated synchronically as complementizers, an analysis that follows directly from the presence of internally-headed relative constructions. Totonacan languages are spoken by approximately 240,000 people (INEGI 2010) living in an area of east-central Mexico centred on northern Puebla State and including adjacent parts of Hidalgo and Veracruz (see Figure 1; languages dealt with directly in this paper are shown in red). The family is generally considered an isolate; however, recent work has suggested links to Mixe-Zoque (Brown et al. 2011) and Chitimacha (Brown et al. 2014). Although the family has only recently become the object of serious investigation and description, the focus has been largely on its (admittedly spectacular) morphology; little has been written about syntax, and even less about the structure of complex clauses. Relative clauses in particular seem to have been given short shrift—which is surprising, given that from what we do know about them they seem to have some unusual properties. Consider the example in (1) from Upper Necaxa Totonac, the language for which we currently have the most data on relativization:2 1 I would like to thank my consultants in Patla and Chicontla, especially Porfirio Sampayo Macín and Longino Barragán Sampayo, for their help putting this paper together.